SunTrust Banks is strengthening its financial roots in Texas, despite expected lower used-car valuations in 2017, according to Chuck Jones, the bank’s head of national indirect lending. “In each of our markets, we do regular, comprehensive reviews to ensure that the portfolio is performing within expectations,” Jones said.
The bank has increased dealer relationship managers in Texas in the past 18 months, and aligned underwriting in the Lone Star State to ensure that its “strongest team, and most experienced and disciplined indirect loan officers” service that market, he added. Despite a slight anticipated decline in future valuations related to a large number of vehicles coming off lease, the used-car market is still attractive to SunTrust, according to Jones.
“We saw little-to-no exposure from the impact in the oil industry in our dealer or consumer portfolio,” he said. “While we don’t serve all 254 counties, we have significant presence in Greater Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, and several other market areas,” he added.
SunTrust does comprehensive reviews on a regular basis, “to ensure the portfolio is performing within expectations,” — the first of which was in Texas, Jones said.
Separately, Tony Hejna, the banks former senior president of retail credit risk, left SunTrust on June 15, AFN learned earlier this month. Hejna joined SunTrust in November 2015, accumulating eight months of service at the Atlanta-based lender, according to his LinkedIn profile. His former positions included similar posts at First Niagara Bank and M&T Bank for five and seven years, respectively.